United starts flights to Sarasota-Bradenton International

The year-round nonstop daily flight to Chicago will help replace some of the seats lost when AirTran pulled out

Staff Report

United Airlines resumed service from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport on Monday, 17 years after ceasing local flights.

In its latest local incarnation, United will fly nonstop daily to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport -- the world's third largest -- seven days a week. Unlike some flights to Sarasota-Bradenton, United's will be year-round.

The first 156-seat United Boeing 737 arrived around 12:20 p.m. Monday and took off for a return flight less than an hour later.

"This is the first time that a legacy carrier has replaced a low-cost carrier here," said Fredrick "Rick" Piccolo, the airport's chief executive. "We're optimistic that this service will grow."

United, which had announced plans to resume flights here in February, represents the airport's latest effort to replace flights lost when AirTran Airways, the airport's second-biggest carrier, pulled out in mid-August.

Since then, JetBlue and Delta Airlines also have added flights to try to capture travelers.

Airport executives also hope United, which absorbed Continental Airlines earlier this year, eventually will start nonstop flights between Sarasota and Newark, N.J., Houston and Cleveland.

United is the largest carrier at O'Hare, accounting for about 45 percent of its total traffic through 600 daily nonstop flights to 150 destinations worldwide.

Tourism officials lauded the new United flight.

Erin Duggan, a Visit Sarasota County spokeswoman, said the new United flight will spur renewed marketing in the Chicago area, which had been decreased in the wake of AirTran's announcement.

Chicago was one of several cities, along with Baltimore, Indianapolis and Milwaukee, to which AirTran flew. In all, AirTran carried 365,000 local passengers last year, including 120,000 to and from Chicago.

Tara Poulton, a Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman, said having a flight to and from O'Hare might also heighten international travel to the area, since that airport is typically a gateway for Canadian and other foreign travelers.

"Chicago has always been a large market for the Bradenton area," she said.

United will receive up to $300,000 in incentives in its first two years from the Sarasota-Bradenton airport, along with a reduction in fees of $7 per passenger for its inaugural year.

In all, 1.3 million passengers flew into or out of Sarasota-Bradenton in 2011. This year, to date, passenger counts are up nearly 2 percent.

The additional United flight is expected to bring in $169,000 per flight to the Sarasota area and more than $62 million in economic impact annually, according to information from the Sarasota-Manatee Airport Authority.

Leah Barker, from Sarasota, was one of the first passengers to take the inaugural flight to O'Hare on Monday. Barker was visiting her son and grandchildren, who live in Chicago.

"I've always taken the Delta flight in the past and just caught a connecting flight at a bigger airport," she said. "I don't drive to Tampa, so who knows, maybe this will be my flight from now on."